Intelligent Design

Project Runway's newest winner, Leanne Marshall, gets down to business

At 16, Project Runway winner Leanne Marshall skulked around the halls of her northern California high school in baggy skater pants and "old man shirts." Two years later, she had progressed to rockabilly punk, wearing black pleated miniskirts and red patent creepers—"They were so uncomfortable but so cool," she says—with fuzzy zebra-print shirts, and had ­earned the nickname Leanimal. For any of the millions of viewers who tuned in to watch season five of the fashion reality show, both looks couldn't be farther from the nerdy wallflower the 28-year-old played on TV. But to hear Marshall tell it, her rebellious teens were actually the early signs of the budding designer within. "It was all about experimenting and realizing how you could project a totally different persona through what you wore," she says. "I began to understand the importance of clothing."

Today, it's clear Marshall would prefer to let her designs do the talking. On Project Runway, where she took home first prize and $100,000 in seed money, she played the self-described "silent fashion assassin," keeping her head bowed over her sewing machine while kookier characters, like the leather-clad Stella Zotis (who had a boyfriend called Ratbones), stole the spotlight fighting over fabric swatches and phony alliances. "I didn't do Project Runway to be a television star," Marshall says, via phone in Portland, Oregon, where she lived for three years until moving to New York City last month. "I want to be a fashion designer. I needed that capital to invest in my clothing line. I was willing to do whatever it took, and if that meant possibly making a fool of myself on TV, that was okay."

Thomas Whiteside

Instead, the onetime graphic designer often came across as a Diane von Furstenberg on quaaludes, with judge Michael Kors describing her as "just plain sad" after one particularly drab make-over-a-young-professional look. (Marshall had auditioned for Project Runway the previous season and was cut after the second round, presumably after producers thought she'd make for boring TV.) Quietly, she began winning season five's increasingly outrageous challenges, such as designing a dress out of Saturn car parts. Marshall made a mini out of seat covers. Or creating a 1940s look based on A Foreign Affair. (Marshall's never been out of the United States.)

While she admits to a few terrifying moments, such as almost being sent home after the eco challenge—a big blow considering Marshall's own two-year-old Leanimal line drew heavily on sustainable fabrics—she says Project Runway was a positive experience. Since the final show five months ago, for which she produced a romantic collection of fan-pleated gowns and bubble skirts, Marshall has kept in touch with a handful of her castmates, including finalists Jerell Scott and Korto Momolu. Her only regrets are the few barbs she threw at her biggest rival, retro designer Kenley Collins. "Her remarks came across as disrespectful to a lot of people, and all I'll say is I hope she's learned a lot from watching herself on the show," says Marshall, who during one hip-hop challenge sang a rap about Collins: "Yo, Kenley's gonna make an outfit for me/ She better not make it look like it's from 1950!"

Thomas Whiteside

Unlike most Project Runway alumni, she has no get-rich-quick endorsement deals or cable channel spin-offs in the works. Such schemes would take her focus off of making it to the upcoming New York Fashion Week, where she won't have the benefits of a TV crew in tow. "Even at 12, I wanted to be Calvin Klein and show in the tents," says Marshall, who in her preteen years sketched costumes for her own ballet recitals. After graduating from San Francisco's Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising, Marshall moved back in with her parents and took up graphic design while trying to launch her Leanimal line, which she sold for cheap at the Sellout Buyout, Sacramento's handmade-goods fair. After a year, she moved to Portland and soon had sold enough $40 dresses out of her tiny apartment to quit her day job. There, she gave herself a challenge straight out of the Project Runway playbook: Create one look every day and offer it online by 5 p.m. "It was incredible practice for the show," says the reality show Rocky, who thinks working so consistently under pressure helped her refine her feminine aesthetic.

Now living in New York with her music composer boyfriend of two years, Marshall finally feels she's ready to compete in the big leagues. Every penny of her TV earnings has gone toward her line, which she's wisely renamed Leanne Marshall. Though contractually she's prohibited from producing any of the looks she created for TV, the designer has moved forward with a predominantly organic spring '09 collection, available on her website (Leannemarshall.com) and in stores such as Seaplane in Portland. "I know what I want," she says, before hanging up the phone. Once again for Marshall, fashion speaks the loudest.

A Part of Hearst Digital Media
ELLE participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites.